Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-09-19
CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT
FITTING CHANGES IN THE NEv4os
BANK ExcITEs PEOPLE

.451ha EEdtlE LtE b.
What Caused Flood to -Retir.-some
Say 1t Was Ill Health and Others In
BIame-Fair and Mackay Up In
Consequences.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Sept. 1.-THE
exchange in the management of the Ne
vada bank has created a great sensation
in financial and mining circles. Those
who are on the inside knew that some
change was likely to occur, but they
thought it would simply he the retire
ment of Flood, because of his ill-health,
and that Mackay would take charge.
Every one had been watching the bank
closely for the past month, as there are
creditors who have claims of $500, 600
against Dresbach and Rosenfield, the
figure-head for the bank in the recent
wheat deal.
To understand fully the cause that led
to this change of management it will be
necessary to review briefly some recent
history of the bank. On April a, 1885,
eliminated a long standing difficulty be-
tween ex-senator Fair and his two part
ners in the bank, Flood and Mackay.
Fair retired from all connection with the
bank, and the agreement at that time was
that Flood also relinquished his share,
leaving Mr.. Mackay in sole ownership of
the institution. Whether Flood bought
back any of the stock is not knewn, but
the fact remains that he has fulfilled
from that time the functions Of president
OF the bank, and has shown the same
keen interest in its fortunes that he ex-
hibited when he was a third proprietor.
Under Flood the manager of the bank
was Geo. L.. Bradners who had a certain
amount of stock entered under his name.
and he was elected yice-president. Ex-
Senator Fair made on May 9, 1885. an
Interesting statement, in which he gave
the history of the events which led to his
retirement from the dictatorship of the
bank. Fair declared that he was not sat
isfied with he way many things were
lone at the bank, and he could not think
OF accepting the charge of the bank him
self at that time, and Flood, too, he as
serted, WAS anxious to be freed from the
responsibility Of management, so Flood
proposed to him that both sell out their
interest to Mackay, and thus leave him
sole owner and manager of the bank,
Inls wal agreed to, but rne singular
feature of the transaction was that all
Fairs negotiations were conducted
through Flood, the latter using a power
of attorney for Mackay.
From chat time until the recent wheat
deals the Nevada bank was conducted in.
a way which led TO no sharp comment of
its management, and it was known that
1T loaned heavily on wheat every year.
but this WAS not surprising, as 1t owned
the the great warehouses at Port Costa,
and most Of the money was advanced on
grain which was actually lying In its
warehouses. 1t was known that it made
losses on the grain-bag corner last year.
but those were ttfithiingt to an institution OF
its wealth. The big wheat deal which re-
Gently collapsed was the last bit OF fnan-
c1erlng of che old regime in the Nevada
ban 1t brought matters to q head aud
resulted in the changes that has occurred
recently. 1t began at Chicago, whera the
mysterious California clique e3erted a
strong influence on speculation and fired
tne lmaglnatlons OF all the reporters who,
were trying to get at the facts.
The sudden break in the Chicago mar
ket demoralized the wheat markets of
the country, but it failed to reveal who
the mysterious California CLIQUE were.
There were shrewd suspicious, however.
that the Nevada bank was this hidden
power. The matter was mere surmise.
however, until the deal Was begun in this
city. Tit very same tricks were adopted
here as in Chicago. The bank directly
never showed its hand; everything was
done by agents. The agents selected
here were VIM. Dresbach and John Ros-
snfeld, two wheat brokers, who, on a
capital of $3.50. 900, made advances on
wheat representing IS, 600, 600 or, $10,-
O0O, GOO. President Flood, OF the Nevada
bank, and Vice-President Brander. re-
paatedly denied that the bank had any
connection with the whest speculation
which was watched with so much inter.
est in all the financial centers of the
World. Yet thase deninls convinced no
one. 1t was patent on tho face of things
that these two insignificant wheat brok-
srs must have strong financial backing.
Without the knowledge OF such backing
they could not have preserved their credit
for . single day. They went on buying
wheat In this market, and forcing the
price up until wheat reached the phe-
nomensa price of $2.1T 1-2 per Genital.
called loan for $500, 900, and turned over
this amount in clean cash to his old nnrt-
ners. He paid several visits to Menlc
Park, and he renewed his old intimacy
with Mackay. Pine street brokers were
paraiyzed about q fortnight ago to see old
Jimmy Fair como out of the Nevada
bank, which he hadn't entered for two
years, They were sill more amazed to
sss him shake hands at the door with
Mackay, who said: s'Good-by, JIM and
to hear Fair reply: "Good-by, John, y %
In the old days On the Comstoch. This
renewed intimacy led to the advancing
by Fair of about 81, 900, 600 in addition to
the $500, 600 loan which he paid. This
amount assures the s~olvency Of the bank
n has braced up the local money mar